Social Question

How would you deal, if you found yourself a victim to online bullying?

Just been hearing a lot about this in the news lately, and no I have not been a victim to it, or anyone I know, but I have come across some very rude people on line and have been accused of it myself, so back to my question how would YOU handle an on line bully?

Ignore them, what else am I supposed to do? Bully them back? Just being trolled or flamed online once or twice okay, I could do the same back. But if it was something a lot more serious than that, I would see what I could do with the staff that runs the site this is happening on. If it was someone on FB that I didn’t know in real life, I would delete them right away. If it was someone I knew in real life, I’d go see them in person, if they live close to me.

I prefer to lead by example and demonstrate the types of behaviors that are more conducive to the kind of society I wish for. While I appreciate that some religious leaders have taught that we should be kind to one another, I do not follow any religion and have drawn these conclusions through my life observations.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies – I appreciate that you do not spew hatred in the name of your religion. Sometimes the folks who are flaming online and in person claim to be “Christian” – such as the Westboro Church, and people who attack companies about their TV commercials that represent our diversity in the US (like the biracial family in the cereal commercial, the multi-lingual singers in the soda commercial, and the same-sex parents in the graham cracker commercial).

And I too appreciate where you’re coming from @hearkat. But I’d like to clarify, I don’t have a religion. I think religion has the potential of being a most evil curse upon humanity.

My example of Jesus is just like my often cited examples of Confucius, Buddha, MLK, Gandhi, Bartrihari, and even a few good friends I’ve come to know. When I witness a good philosophy, I try to acknowledge it, no matter where it comes from.

This is an interesting question, as most of the people here, who are answering this question, seem to be over the age of 16. I am 30 myself, and feel the same way you all do, if someone is annoying me, I leave the webpage, or /ignore, or click the block button. If the bully tracks me down on other sites too, I just keep blocking them…
However, I would like to point out that the reason “online bullying” is becoming such a huge problem is because for a teen, or youth, /ignore, just isn’t good enough. I have a very close friend who is 17 and has lived her entire life online. We have talked about this problem many times before. She has tried to explain to me that you can’t just “ignore them,” and now, after spending so much time with her, I can understand that. For some people, you can’t just walk away from it.
I think more needs to be done, somehow, to show the older generation that online bullying isn’t something you just walk away from.
Just like I wasn’t able to walk away from my real-life bullies in middle school or high school, kids today can’t walk away from online bullies.
My friend sort of explained it like this; having an online bully that won’t go away, especially one in a community you enjoy (like Reddit), then being told, “just leave or ignore them,” is like saying, “just don’t go to the mall anymore,” or “stop going outside cause your neighbor hates you.” You can’t do that, you don’t WANT to do that. Leaving a community online is no different then leaving a real life one.
Imagine if someone on this site started trolling and bullying you… Would you really want to stop coming here?

I just found myself victim to online bullying right here on this very site!

I reported the insult and stayed away from the question and the two members who suddenly jumped on me. I didn’t stick around for the inevitable deterioration of the thread.

A very nice moderator deleted the insulting comment and a few more further down and explained why. It was very well done and I have nothing against the perpetrators, nor will I even remember them an hour from now.

@jtvoar16 You make good points. In my case though, say I was bullied on Fluther, I wouldn’t just up and leave the site. By ignoring the bully, that’s not what I’m suggesting at all. I would stay, but ignore the one person, and/or contact staff site. Hopefully the place I was on would be able to help, and hopefully on the site I have friends who could help or support me. Which, personally, online friends and good acquaintances are the only reason I have for sticking with online communities.
(of course it can be different with others, but I cannot speak for anyone but me)